The Whole Erk Catalogue Tales of a Geek Abroad

Have I ever mentioned that the Japanese calendar is pre-marked a year or more in advance with what days are auspicious and what times they will be auspicious at? Apparently tomorrow starts being auspicious at noon. Good thing to know.

So, now that we've personally announced it to all our immediate family, I feel it's safe to post on my blog: Jen and I got engaged a week ago! With the ring and bended knee and all! I'm sorry to say for all those wanting a juicy story that it was a modest proposal: we both knew it was coming, and I knew Jen would not want to be embarrassed by too public an offering, so I just got on my knee and handed her a pretty bit of jewelry in one of our favourite restaurants, after a really nice day out on the town. It was good times!

I'm a very lucky dude.

I like to make my students' day a little more weird. Today I did so by walking around during clean up time and taking the broom away from one student, giving to a second student, and giving the second student's broom to the first.

The heater in one of my morning classes is broken, so it's below zero in the classroom. The students and I practiced Ninja English to keep warm, karate-chopping the air as we practiced sentences.

We made a christmas wreath and hung it from our door; it has a string of jinglebells on it.

Every time one of the neighbourhood kids walk by, they jingle the wreath.

This makes both Jen and I very happy.